1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a destainer for slab gels that readily removes the stain particles without the use of elaborate pumping and filtering equipment.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
A destainer for disc electrophoresis rods utilizing circulating liquid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,747 issued to P. S. Hoefer on Oct. 20, 1970. The device disclosed therein is used as a destainer for disc electrophoresis rods which are contained in tubes including a cylindrical container for holding acetic acid that has a magnetic stirring rod at its base to set up circulation. The rods are placed on a flange-type holder which mates with the walls of the container to force substantially all upward circulating liquid through the tubes. The holder includes an inner column having openings at its top to allow for downward circulation of the liquids through both an activated charcoal filter and for free movement down toward the stirring rod.
The same basic principle is used in the device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,880 issued to Hoefer on Jan. 6, 1976 which relates to a destainer for electrophoresis slab gels. The slab gels are placed in flexible mesh and rolled into cylindrical shapes and then inserted into slab holding tubes. The slab holding tubes are placed in the flowpath of a washing liquid which flows past the slab gels and then through a return path containing a filter for removing stain particles washed away from the slab gels. A magnetic stirrer draws fluid through the filter forcing it through the slab holding tubes and into the return flow path thereby forming a continuous flow path for destaining slab gels contained entirely within a cylindrical outside container. This device limits the size of the slab to be treated, is not designed to accommodate swelling of the gel during destaining and can produce nonuniform destaining across the gel during the destaining process, which may be of concern if quantification of bands is desired.
Heretofore when destaining a slab gel in a flat plate by diffusion destaining, the destaining liquid was poured over the slab gel and it was agitated. As the liquid became contaminated after a short period of time it was poured off and replaced with new liquid. However, this process was time consuming in terms of manual labor and time to destain the gel, was wasteful of destaining solution and inconvenient if strict standardization of the staining process is desired i.e. from gel to gel. Thus, the more elaborate devices discussed hereinbefore came into use.